4It was a calm day in Renais, the wind blowing ever so slightly. The trees were rustling soundlessly.
To the ordinary citizen, it was a normal day. The sun was shining, the birds chirping and nothing was out of the ordinary.
But on the inside of Castle Renais, particularly in the King's room, things were of a different matter.
Ephraim was not calm. He didn't think it was a normal day. In fact, the King had a rather large problem.
And that problem was a woman with dragon wings. Who could turn into a large dragon. That was where the large part came into play.
Or maybe the large part of the problem was that Ephraim was in love with her.
He honestly didn't know.
Myrrh had been staying at the castle ever since the Demon King had been slain a year ago. Ephraim himself had invited her to stay, though at the time he didn't know why he did.
The King now knew.
Ephraim walked out to the balcony that stood adjacent to his room. He leaned on the railing and stared over the vast landscape, taking in the visage of Renais' forests.
"Father…would you call me foolish? For falling for a dragon?" Ephraim whispered to himself. The King knew his father wouldn't have cared, but that wouldn't help Ephraim's problem.
The King stood there for a while before finally coming up with some form of idea.
And since it involved a woman, he needed to talk to Forde.
Unlike his king, Forde's troubles were practically nonexistent.
Except that he was running out of paint.
"How's it looking?" Eirika asked curiously.
"Milady, it looks marvelous, much like yourself," Forde said with a smile. He brought his paintbrush up to add to Eirika's hair on his canvas.
"I would roll my eyes, but you probably don't want me to move," Eirika said.
"I think her highness is allowed to roll her eyes," Forde said with a small grin.
There was a knock on the door. Without looking away from the canvas and Eirika, Forde said loudly, "Come in!"
And the King of Renais walked in.
An everyday occurrence in the life of Forde.
"Hello Forde, how are you?" Ephraim asked. Forde could hear something off about his liege's voice, but he couldn't place it.
"I'm doing well, milord. Yourself?" Forde asked, setting down his paintbrush.
"I have to speak with you," Ephraim said. He cast a gaze at Eirika, "Alone. Think you could excuse us, sister?"
Eirika smiled and nodded, "I'll see you both later." The Princess left the room.
"So, my king, what brings you here?" Forde asked, curiously.
Ephraim sat down on the chair Eirika had been sitting in, "Before we talk about that, how is Eirika doing?"
"She seems fine, milord," Forde said, with a tad bit of uncertainty.
"I suppose I should be a bit more clear, how are the both of you doing?" Ephraim said, the slightest of grins gracing his face.
"Us two?" Forde said, growing uneasy.
"I want you to know, of every man Eirika has ever talked about, she's never talked about them the way she talks about you," Ephraim spoke.
"Milord, I'm not sure what you mean," Forde said, a bead of sweat falling down the back of his neck.
"I'm fine with it, it's not like you're Innes," Ephraim said, scowling very briefly when saying the name of the Prince of Frelia.
"M-milord?" Forde said, aghast. "We're not like that! She's a Princess, I'm-"
"Enough of that," Ephraim waved a hand and Forde fell silent. "I'm here on a different matter."
"And…what is that?" Forde said, regaining his composure somewhat.
"It's about Myrrh," Ephraim said, slowly and evasively.
"Oh," Forde said. He was pretty sure he knew what his lord was speaking about. After all, Forde had fought alongside his liege. And that meant seeing almost everything Ephraim did.
"I need your advice," Ephraim continued.
"Care to elaborate, milord?" Forde asked.
"Myrrh's been…quiet lately. She mentioned a day ago about possibly leaving so 'she wouldn't trouble us anymore.' And I'm worried," Ephraim said.
"Because you don't want her to leave?" Forde clarified.
Ephraim nodded, "Yes. Forde…I love her. I don't want her to leave."
"Then perhaps you should just tell her?" Forde suggested. "Myrrh thinks very highly of you. Even if she doesn't return your feelings, she'd still be your friend."
"That I can do," Ephraim said. "It's what comes after I worry about."
"How so?"
"It's because I'm king. Suppose it were to work out, I can't be with a dragon. The public wouldn't allow it, I can't force Renais to follow me. But I can't abandon it either," Ephraim said.
Forde scratched his chin, "Sounds like you've got two men arguing in here." Forde pointed at his head, "Ephraim the King and Ephraim the Man. You can't be both, your highness."
Ephraim nodded, "I figured as much. But one side is selfish and gives me happiness, the other noble but gives me sadness. How am I to choose?"
"I think you should speak to your sister," Forde suggested. "She knows more than I."
Ephraim nodded and stood up, "Thank you for humoring me, Forde."
"Nonsense, my king. I'm sorry that I couldn't have helped more," Forde said graciously.
Ephraim found his sister in her room on her balcony. Her room was not only adjacent to his, but identical. Their father, Fado, had had the idea when they had been born. Ephraim had never gotten to ask why, and never would.
"Sister?" Ephraim said as he closed the door.
"Hello Brother, what ails you?" said Eirika, not taking her eyes off the scenery.
Ephraim walked out onto the balcony so that they stood side by side, "I came for your advice."
"I know," Eirika said, a knowing smile shining up her expression.
Ephraim frowned in puzzlement, "What?"
"I listened at the door," Eirika grinned.
"Of course you did," Ephraim shook his head, chuckling.
"And in my opinion, I think you should not worry about any of the other stuff until you find out if Myrrh loves you back or not," Eirika said.
"I can't just ignore any of the other problems," Ephraim said.
"True, but perhaps you're worrying about the wrong thing. Worry about whether Myrrh returns your feelings. Because that is something you can find out at this present moment," Eirika said.
"Sister, you are a wealth of knowledge," Ephraim said.
"I try," winked Eirika.
"You should go back to Forde. I'm sure he's eager to get back to painting that picture of you," Ephraim said as he began to leave.
"Oh?"
"Yes. I'm sure he'll tell you he wants to hang it in his room so you can watch over him every night," Ephraim grinned as he left the room. He laughed when he saw Eirika blush.
Ephraim knew exactly where to find Myrrh.
In her room.
She loved the room, for it provided a view much like the king's. Only out hers, one could see a lake. And on a particularly nice day, the sun would reflect in beautiful ways.
Ephraim knocked on her door. He heard a small voice say, "Come in."
Ephraim opened the door and walked inside. He saw Myrrh sitting on the railing of the balcony, like usual. He'd once chided her about sitting up there, saying she could fall.
She reminded him she could fly.
He shut up about it.
"Hello…Ephraim," said Myrrh in her soft voice.
The king had recently gotten her to stop calling him 'Brother.' Not only was that Eirika's right, but that wasn't the kind of relationship he wanted with Myrrh.
"Myrrh, I came to talk with you. I have something to say," Ephraim said.
"As do I," said Myrrh, turning on the balcony so she faced Ephraim who still stood inside the room, albeit barely.
"Ah, well…ladies first," Ephraim said.
Myrrh giggled, "Oh no, I insist."
Ephraim smiled widely, "Very well."
He took a deep breath, his smiling falling into only a slight curve of his lips. It was now or never for him.
"Myrrh…I love you," Ephraim spoke, saying the most truthful thing he'd ever said.
Blunt, but hopefully she wouldn't mind.
Myrrh looked down, "Ephraim…"
Ephraim stood silent, awaiting a response.
"I…I can't love you," she said, as if the words physically hurt her.
Ephraim blinked.
"I want to…but I'm a dragon. I hate that, because it stands in my way between me and you. But it's what I am. And that's why I'm leaving tomorrow, I have to get away. For both our sakes," Myrrh said.
Ephraim opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. Why would she hate that she was a dragon? He loved that about her, Ephraim loved every single thing about her.
Myrrh hopped down from her perch, "I'm sorry…" She walked into her room and towards the door. Taking one last look behind her, she said, "I'm going to say my good byes now. Then I'm leaving immediately. So…this is good bye."
Ephraim turned around slowly as he heard the door slam, the sound of a girl crying reaching his ears with the tone of a harsh reality.
Two hours after his king's visit, Forde scratched his head. Myrrh had just been in his room, crying. When he'd asked her what was wrong, she'd only hugged him and said, "I'm sorry."
But before Forde could analyze the situation, Ephraim dashed into his room, a question on his lips.
"Have you seen Myrrh!?"
Forde nodded, "What's this about?"
Ephraim ignored the question, "Come with me. I need your help!"
Forde wouldn't disobey a direct order from his king, just like he wouldn't cut off his arm. Forde followed his liege right out the door.
It didn't take Forde long to figure out what the problem was. They had traveled down to the castle gates where Ephraim asked the guard if he'd seen Myrrh. The guard told him that Myrrh had left through the gate and flown away. Literally.
Ephraim asked Forde for his help in preparing a horse. Forde agreed, and they headed down to the stables.
Where Princess Eirika was waiting, a horse ready with provisions.
"I figured it out when Myrrh came into my room crying," she said. "Brother, go after her. Don't come back as Ephraim the King, but as Ephraim the Man. I can rule in your stead, it's about time I did something for you rather than the other way around."
"Eirika…I can't thank you enough," Ephraim said, sadness in his eyes.
"You can thank me by going after her," Eirika said with a smile. "Besides, you'll be back to visit."
They embraced, and Ephraim turned to Forde, "Forde, thank you. For everything you've ever done for me."
"It was my pleasure," Forde bowed.
Ephraim got onto his horse and was about to leave when he turned to look at Forde where he said, "And Forde, you'll make a great king."
Forde muttered a, "What?" and Eirika blushed as Ephraim rode away.
It didn't take Ephraim long to catch up to Myrrh. The king was good with horses, and knew the landscape well. Myrrh didn't.
"Myrrh!" shouted Ephraim when she entered his field of vision.
The dragon girl stopped walking at the sound of his voice. She turned on the spot and waited for Ephraim to get to her, knowing it was useless to flee.
The king jumped from his horse, literally. Myrrh frowned and said, "Ephraim, what are you doing here?"
Ephraim ignored her and wrapped his arms around her. She gasped, but returned the hug. It was at that time, Ephraim spoke, "Myrrh…I don't care that you're a dragon."
"But Ephraim—"
"But nothing," he said sternly, pulling back so he looked her in the eyes. "I don't care. I love you for you, Myrrh."
"But you're a king, you can't just fall in love with a dragon!" protested Myrrh through tears.
"Didn't you know? I'm not King anymore, my sister is Queen. After all, people do crazy things when they're in love," smirked Ephraim.
The king, no, the man Ephraim leaned forward and kissed the woman he loved.
And Myrrh kissed him back.
And finally, Ephraim acknowledge that it was a good day.
Author Note: This is a fanfic exchange with COOKIECHEESEMAN! I wrote his OTP, and he wrote mine (MatthewxLeila).